The team arrived around 11.30 and the full Beast began pulling disturbing errors from the air around 13.00 - always new notes to be discovered and played in unlikely places. Terror of the day: the fast shots in "FraKctured". But mostly the new repertoire is falling into place. We began with TCOL: bouncing & moving forwards: a treat. And Adrian's solo on "Larks' IV" is astonishing.
All this and ongoing e-frenzies & flurries.
Today's weather: sunny & warm. Then an eruption of rain: a downpour.
22.50
David Crossen of Scotland asks on today's website whether KC is touring the UK in July. Latest info, as of this morning: Richard Chadwick reports that there is "resistance" to KC playing outside London. I take that to mean there is little interest from promoters. We are considering the Turku festival in Finland on July 1st. & have Shepherd's Bush on hold for July 4th. My response to Richard was, that if England has little interest in us outside London, better to be consistent. It seems derisory, even insulting, to merely play in London. So, as of the moment, the UK looks unlikely. But more conversations are to follow.
On the subject of high ticket prices in Europe, also raised on the Guestbook: this was a matter I discussed a while ago, and reported here. I was assured the ticket prices were not too high. I didn't really believe it then, and I certainly don't believe it now. Readers might also recall that my repeatedly expressed concerns were interpreted as an excuse to cancel the tour. We had the choice: accept the situation that manager & agent were doing the best they could, or pull out.
But here's an interesting fact for the consideration of visitors: the European tour is currently budgeted to make nothing, other than if merchandising does particularly well. Partly this is the size of venues: if we played 2,500 - 3,000 seats then more people could pay too much, see less & hear a wash of noise. Partly this is because most of the equipment & personnel are flying in from the US. Partly this is because Europe is very expensive to tour, in comparison with the US. Touring Europe has never been easy, for these and other reasons.
We are also considering 3 dates in Australia later in the year.
"Act with courtesy.
Otherwise, be polite."
